SVIRIDOV Georgy (Yuri) Vasilievich (1915 98), Russian composer, pianist, People's Artist of the USSR (1970), Hero of Socialist Labor (1975). Musical comedy “Ogonki” (1951), vocal symphonic poem “In Memory of Sergei Yesenin” (1956);… … encyclopedic Dictionary

Genus. 16 Dec 1915 in Fatezh. Composer. Hero of Socialist Labor (1975). Nar. art. USSR (1970). In 1932 1936 he studied at the First Music. technical school in Leningrad according to class. f p. I. A. Braudo and according to class. compositions by M. A. Yudin. In 1941 he graduated from Leningrad. cons.... ... Large biographical encyclopedia

Sviridov, Georgy Vasilievich- Georgy Nikolaevich Sviridov. SVIRIDOV Georgy (Yuri) Vasilievich (1915 1998), composer. Originally implements the centuries-old traditions of Russian singing culture, organically combining them with modern stylistics. The theme of the Motherland, its destinies in epic... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

SVIRIDOV Georgy (Yuri) Vasilievich (b. 1915) Russian composer, pianist, People's Artist of the USSR (1970), Hero of Socialist Labor (1975). Musical comedy Ogonki, (1951), vocal symphonic poem In Memory of Sergei Yesenin (1956);… … Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

SVIRIDOV Georgy (Yuri) Vasilievich (12/16/1915, Fatezh, now Kursk region 01/06/1998, Moscow), composer, People's Artist of the USSR (1970), Hero of Socialist Labor (1975). Laureate of the Stalin Prize (1946), USSR State Prizes (1968,... ... Encyclopedia of Cinema

- (b. 16 XII 1915, Fatezh, now Kursk region) ...In turbulent times, especially harmonious artistic natures arise, embodying the highest aspiration of man, the desire for the inner harmony of the human personality as opposed to the chaos of the world... Musical dictionary

Georgy Sviridov Date of birth December 3 (16), 1915 (19151216) Place of birth Fatezh Date of death January 6 ... Wikipedia

- (b. 1915), owl. composer. The author of a vocal cycle based on L.'s poems (1st edition 1938, 2nd edition 1957), reflecting the romantic. Lermont perception. personality and poetry. In his Sat. “Romances and Songs” (M., 1960) included the following. op. on Lermont. words: “Sail”, “They... ... Lermontov Encyclopedia

- [R. 3(16).12.1915, Fatezh, now Kursk region], Soviet composer and musical public figure, People's Artist of the USSR (1970), Hero of Socialist Labor (1975). In 1941 he graduated from the Leningrad Conservatory in composition (studied... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

ABSTRACT

on the topic of:

"CHORAL CREATIVITY

G.V. SVIRIDOV"

Completed by: classroom teacher

vocals Kastornova E.A.

r.p. Znamenka

2015

1. Introduction……………………………………………………….p. 3

2. Features of the style of G.V. Sviridov… …………………………… page 4

3. “Poem in memory of Sergei Yesenin”……………………………………p.11

4. “Choras” a cappella …………………………………….…………..page 13

5. “Five choirs to the words of Russian poets” ………………………….p.17

6. Choral creativity G.V. Sviridov (unaccompanied choirs

and accompanied by an instrumental ensemble) ……………….p.29

7. Conclusion………………………………………………………page 32

8. Bibliography…… ……………………………………………..page 34

Introduction

Georgy Vasilyevich Sviridov is one of the most original and bright artists of our time. The theme of the Motherland is of particular importance in the composer’s work. It sounds in lyrical-epic works, and in works devoted to pictures of folk life, landscapes, and in heroic images of the revolution.

Creativity G.V. Sviridov is inextricably linked with the figurative world of poetry. The circle of poets whose poems became the literary basis of his music - cantatas, oratorios, vocal cycles, individual romances and songs - is extremely wide. Here A.S. Pushkin and M.Yu. Lermontov, Decembrist poets and N. Nekrasov, R. Burns and V. Shakespeare, A. Blok and V. Mayakovsky, S. Yesenin and A. Isaakyan and others. This characterizes G. Sviridov as a musician of high culture, who has access to poetic masterpieces of all times and peoples. Turning to the works of the best poets in the world, G. Sviridov still gives preference to Russian, Soviet, and especially his beloved S. Yesenin: out of a little over two hundred songs, more than fifty are based on Yesenin’s poems. By the way, it is G. Sviridov who has the honor of “discovering” S. Yesenin and V. Mayakovsky for serious academic music, although he was not the first to turn to their poems.

Of course, Sviridov’s choral creativity is a topic that requires serious research, which will always be carried out. Today it is obvious that Sviridov the composer is in demand, interesting, and so deep that he will be studied for a long time. Sviridov had an amazingly subtle and precise feel for the choral texture. It is no coincidence that Sviridov always wrote for the best groups; the composer took into account (identified, recorded, set new creative tasks) the dignity of the groups.

Features of the style of G.V. Sviridova

In Sviridov's music, the spiritual power and philosophical depth of poetry are expressed in melodies of piercing, crystal clarity, in the richness of orchestral colors, and in the original modal structure. Starting with the “Poem in Memory of Sergei Yesenin,” the composer uses intonation and modal elements of the ancient Orthodox Znamenny chant in his music. Reliance on the world of ancient spiritual art of the Russian people can be traced in such choral works as “The Soul is Sad about Heaven”, in the choral concerts “In Memory of A. A. Yurlov” and “Pushkin’s Wreath”, in the amazing choral canvases included in the music for the drama A. K. Tolstoy "Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich" ("Prayer", "Holy Love", "Poem of Repentance"). The music of these works is pure and sublime, it contains great ethical meaning. In the documentary film "Georgy Sviridov" there is an episode when the composer in Blok's museum-apartment (Leningrad) stops in front of a painting that the poet himself almost never parted with. This is a reproduction of a painting by the Dutch artist K. Massis “Salome with the Head of John the Baptist” (early 16th century), where the images of the tyrant Herod and the prophet who died for the truth are clearly contrasted. "The prophet is a symbol of the poet, his destiny!" - says Sviridov. This parallel is not accidental. Blok had an amazing premonition of the fiery, whirlwind and tragic future of the coming 20th century. “...Many Russian writers liked to imagine Russia as the embodiment of silence and sleep,” wrote A. Blok on the eve of the revolution, “but this dream ends; silence is replaced by a distant roar...” And, calling to listen to the “menacing and deafening the roar of revolution,” the poet notes that “this hum, anyway, is always about the great.” It was with this “Blok” key that Sviridov approached the theme of the Great October Revolution, but he took the text from another poet: the composer chose the path of greatest resistance, turning to the poetry of Mayakovsky. By the way, this was the first melodic mastery of his poems in the history of music. This is evidenced, for example, by the inspired melody “Let’s go, poet, let’s look, let’s sing” in the finale of the “Pathetic Oratorio”, where the very figurative structure of famous poems is transformed, as well as the broad, joyful chant “I know there will be a city.” Truly inexhaustible melodic, even hymnic possibilities were revealed by Sviridov in Mayakovsky. And the “roar of revolution” is in the magnificent, menacing march of part 1 (“Turn around in the march!”), in the “cosmic” scope of the finale (“Shine and no nails!”)... And in response to the words of Blok’s formidable prophecy, Sviridov created one of his masterpieces "A Voice from the Choir" (1963). Blok repeatedly inspired the composer, who wrote about 40 songs based on his poems: these are solo miniatures, the chamber cycle “Petersburg Songs” (1963), and small cantatas “Sad Songs” (1962), “Five Songs about Russia” (1967), and choral cyclic poems "Night Clouds" (1979), "Songs of Timelessness" (1980).

Two other poets, who also possessed prophetic traits, occupy a central place in Sviridov’s work. These are Pushkin and Yesenin.

Based on the poems of Pushkin, who subordinated himself and all future Russian literature to the voice of truth and conscience, who selflessly served the people with his art, Sviridov, in addition to individual songs and youthful romances, wrote 10 magnificent choruses of “Pushkin’s Wreath” (1979), where the harmony and joy of life breaks through the poet’s stern reflection alone with eternity (“They beat Zorya”). The spiritual closeness between the composer and the poet is not accidental. Sviridov’s art is also distinguished by a rare inner harmony, a passionate striving for goodness and truth, and at the same time a sense of tragedy, stemming from a deep understanding of the greatness and drama of the era being lived through. A musician and composer of enormous, unique talent, he feels, first of all, a son of his land, born and raised under its sky. In Sviridov’s life itself, direct connections with folk origins and with the heights of Russian culture coexist.

S. Yesenin is the closest and, in all respects, the main poet of Sviridov (about 50 solo and choral works). Oddly enough, the composer became acquainted with his poetry only in 1956. The line “I am the last poet of the village” shocked and immediately became music, the sprout from which grew the “Poem in Memory of Sergei Yesenin” - a landmark work for Sviridov, for Soviet music and in general, for our society to understand many aspects of Russian life in those years. Yesenin, like Sviridov’s other main “co-authors,” had a prophetic gift - back in the mid-20s. he prophesied the terrible fate of the Russian village. The “Iron Guest” coming “on the path of the blue field” is not the machine that Yesenin allegedly feared (as they once thought), it is an apocalyptic, menacing image. The poet’s thought was felt and revealed in music by the composer. Among his Yesenin compositions are choirs that are magical in their poetic richness (“The soul is sad about heaven,” “In the blue evening,” “Herd”), cantatas, songs of various genres up to the chamber-vocal poem “The Castaway Rus'” (1977). Now, at the end of the 80s, work on a new oratorio based on the poems of the young Yesenin “The Bright Guest” is being completed.

G. Sviridov, with his characteristic insight, earlier and more deeply than many other figures of Soviet culture, felt the need to preserve the Russian poetic and musical language, the priceless treasures of ancient art, created over centuries, because above all these national riches in our age of total breakdown of foundations and traditions, in the age of the experienced abuses there is a real danger of destruction.

The vocal and choral music of Georgy Vasilyevich Sviridov cannot be confused with any other - its imaginative world, soul-stirring intonations, and accessibility captivate listeners from the very first sounds. This music is simple and artless. But this simplicity is a consequence of a deep understanding of the complexity of life and desire, and also the ability to speak about it simply. This simplicity, against the backdrop of the most complex quests of most modern composers, seems phenomenal and incomprehensible.

The hero of Sviridov's works is a poet, citizen, patriot, in love with his native land. His patriotism and citizenship - without loud words, but fill the composer's works with a quiet, dim light, emitting warmth and enormous all-conquering power. All the thoughts, all the aspirations of Sviridov’s hero are concentrated on interest in the Motherland, people, Russian culture and tradition. And his feelings never manifest themselves superficially, but always deeply, chastely, purely, sincerely in a Russian way.

The theme of the Motherland, Russia runs through all of Sviridov’s works of various genres: in the monumental-heroic “Pathetic Oratorio”, in the lyrical-epic “Poem in Memory of Sergei Yesenin”, in vocal cycles to poems by A.S. Pushkina, S.A. Yesenina, A.A. Blok. But no matter whose poems form the basis of Sviridov’s songs and choirs, they are always translated into music in Sviridov’s unique, original way.

A big place in the vocal and choral music of G.V. Sviridov is occupied by images of Russian nature, sometimes bright, juicy, painted as if in large strokes (as in “Poem in Memory of Sergei Yesenin”), sometimes tender, as if blurred, “watercolor” (“In Autumn”, “These poor villages” to poems by F.I. . Tyutchev), then strict, harsh (“Wooden Rus'” to the verses of S.A. Yesenin). And what is depicted is always passed through the heart, sung with love. Nature is inseparable, inseparable from the worldview of the lyrical hero Sviridov. She is animated, mysteriously incomprehensible.

Such a heightened perception of nature comes from the depth of the hero’s nature, his spiritual subtlety, and poetic sensitivity.

G.V. Sviridov strives to reflect in his vocal and choral work the most significant events and phenomena of our history and modern life, for example the Battle of Kulikovo (“Song of Russia” to the verses of A.A. Blok), revolutionary events (“Poem in memory of Sergei Yesenin”, “Pathetic oratorio" based on poems by V. Mayakovsky).

But not only epoch-making phenomena found their embodiment in Sviridov’s music, it reflected the simple, everyday life of people. And in this, the composer, rising to great social generalizations, creates unusually multifaceted images, and sometimes entire tragic destinies. Folk life in Sviridov’s works is both a special way of life and a special world of beliefs and rituals; this is also high morality, a high ethical principle that helped the people survive and preserve their identity; This is, finally, living life, uninterrupted for centuries, millennia - despite any pestilence, invasion, or upheaval. The truths of folk life are embodied in very diverse music: intense lyrical feeling - and quiet tenderness, hidden passion - and strict solemnity, sublime sadness - and reckless daring, mischief.

“Three choruses from the music to the tragedy of A.K. Tolstoy “Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich”” (1973) is, in its way, a key composition in the work of G.V. Sviridova. From there a line will stretch to the pinnacle period of Sviridov’s creativity. Gradually, the composer developed the idea of ​​turning to Orthodox everyday life as a poetic source of creativity. Music workbooks make it possible to discover the beginning and trace over time the gradual transformation of this creative idea. By year it looks like this:

1978-“From Easter Hymns” (for solo bass, mixed choir and symphony orchestra);

1979 - “Songs of Great Saturday” (for solo bass, mixed choir and symphony orchestra);

1980-1985 - “Mass” (for mixed choir without accompaniment);

1985 - “The Greatness of Easter” (for reader, mixed and children’s choirs);

1985 - “From Mystery” (for mixed choir and symphony orchestra).

From 1985 until December 11, 1997, Sviridov worked on his last work, which became a kind of spiritual musical testament to him. Now that the music manuscripts have been mostly sorted out, one can imagine the scale of this plan. The fact is that the work “Chants and Prayers” prepared by Sviridov himself for publication is just a small, surface part of the musical “iceberg” hidden in the handwritten sea of ​​the composer’s personal archive. If the executed edition of “Songs and Prayers” has 16 parts, then the compositional plan of the main work, which has the conventional title “From Liturgical Poetry,” includes 43 (forty-three!) titles.

“From Liturgical Poetry” is a work in which texts traditional for Orthodox worship are arranged by the composer both for an unaccompanied choir (which corresponds to the unwritten canon of Orthodox worship) and for soloists, a choir accompanied by an orchestra. This is high spiritual art, only expressed in mixed, ecclesiastical and secular forms. And yet, in the words of Georgy Vasilyevich himself, “the highly solemn spirit of Orthodox worship reigns in him.”

This turned out to be the inner meaning of the evolution of Sviridov’s creativity, this was the spiritual path of the great artist, a Russian man of extraordinary nature in all its completeness and versatility, who with his people survived all the storms and hard times of the 20th century.

Sviridov continued and developed the experience of Russian classics, primarily M.P. Mussorgsky, enriching him with the achievements of the 20th century. He uses the traditions of ancient cant and ritual chants; Znamenny chant, and at the same time - modern urban mass song.

Sviridov developed and continued the traditions of vocal and vocal-symphonic music, and created new genre varieties of it. At the same time, in the field of harmony and musical form, he showed something new, unique, and individual.

"Poem in memory of Sergei Yesenin."

Many of Sviridov’s works are associated with the figurative world of poetry. The circle of poets, whose poems became the literary basis of his music - cantatas, oratorios, vocal cycles, largely characterizes the composer as a musician of the highest culture.

Sviridov’s favorite poet is Sergei Yesenin: out of two hundred songs, more than fifty were written based on Yesenin’s poems. It was Sviridov who first truly introduced Yesenin’s poetry into music as a poet of enormous depth and scale - not only the author of lyrical revelations, but also a philosopher.

In 1955 G.V. Sviridov creates one of his best works - “Poem in Memory of Sergei Yesenin.” “In this work, I wanted to recreate the appearance of the poet himself, the drama of his lyrics, his characteristic passionate love of life and that truly boundless love for the people that makes his poetry exciting. It is these features of the work of this wonderful poet that are dear to me. And I wanted to say about this in the language of music...” - this is how the composer defined the essence of his creative plan and his attitude towards one of the best poets in Russia.

What is remarkable about this work, first of all, is that the author of the music very faithfully conveys the figurative structure of Yesenin’s poems, all the variety of moods and their shades that characterize the richness of the soul of the national Russian character. There is aching melancholy, the sadness of loneliness, and dissatisfaction with life, and love for nature, be it a blizzard, a winter blizzard or a summer afternoon, against which a picture of a peasant suffering, harvest, or a poetic picture of a summer night and a magical scene of a pagan rite appears. Not only the image of the poet appears, but also the image of the people among whom he grew up and to whom he dedicated his best songs.

All of Yesenin’s poetry is permeated with Russian songfulness. This songfulness is not only in the special melody of the poems, in their melodiousness - the entire figurative world of the poet seems to be permeated with the sounds of the talyanka, zhaleyka, and horn. In his poems there are songs of the mower, the guslar, the shepherd, the singing of birds, the sound of the wind, the forests, even the seasons of the year sing from him (“Winter sings, calls”). And no matter what Yesenin’s heroes do - whether they lead round dances or see off recruits - a song sounds everywhere. The poet's poems are filled with images of both peasant and urban, sometimes suburban - such are the intonations of poems in which different styles are crossed. All this is reflected in Sviridov’s music.

Most fully in the “Poem in Memory of Sergei Yesenin” the indissoluble connection of two principles was manifested - the purely personal, subjective, and objective; they correspond to the solo part and choirs.

Choral episodes are either full of dynamics and sharp comparisons, or they are restrained and generalized. They seem to recreate pictures of village life. Before us: now a lively winter sketch, now an energetic scene of threshing, now an ancient poetic folk ritual, now a sad picture of a devastated native land.

In the solo episodes (“In that land”, “You are my abandoned land”) the combination of intonations of a peasant song and an urban romance is especially noticeable.

Songfulness became the basis for such subsequent works by Sviridov as the cantata “Wooden Rus'”, “Spring Cantata”, and many choirs.

4. “Choras” a cappella.

Works by G.V. Sviridov for choir, and cappella, along with works of the oratorio-cantata genre, belong to the most valuable section of his work. The range of topics that are raised in them reflects his characteristic desire for eternal philosophical problems. Basically, these are thoughts about life and man, about nature, about the role and purpose of the poet, about the Motherland. These themes also determine Sviridov’s selection of poets, mainly domestic ones: A. Pushkin, S. Yesenin, A. Nekrasov, A. Blok, V. Mayakovsky, A. Prokofiev, S. Orlov, B. Pasternak... Carefully recreating the individual features of the poetry of each them, the composer at the same time brings their themes closer together during the selection process, combining them into a certain circle of images, themes, and plots. But the final transformation of each of the poets into a “like-minded person” occurs under the influence of music, which powerfully invades the poetic material and transforms it into a new work of art.

Based on a deep penetration into the world of poetry and his reading of the text, the composer, as a rule, creates his own musical and figurative concept. In this case, the determining factor is the identification in the content of the poetic primary source of that main, humanly universally significant thing, which makes it possible to achieve a high degree of artistic generalization in music.

The focus of Sviridov’s attention is always the person. The composer loves to show people who are strong, courageous, and restrained. Images of nature, as a rule, “serve” as a background to human experiences, although they also match people – calm pictures of the vast expanse of the steppe...

The composer emphasizes the commonality of images of the earth and the people who inhabit it, endowing them with similar features. Two general ideological and figurative types predominate. Heroic images are recreated in the sound of a male choir, dominated by wide melodic leaps, unisons, sharp dotted rhythm, chord structure or movement in parallel thirds, forte and fortissimo nuances. On the contrary, the lyrical beginning is characterized mainly by the sound of a female choir, a soft melodic line, subvocality, movement in even durations, and quiet sonority. This differentiation of means is not accidental: each of them carries a certain expressive and semantic load in Sviridov, and the complex of these means constitutes a typical Sviridov “image-symbol”.

The specificity of any composer's choral writing is revealed through his characteristic types of melody, vocal techniques, methods of using various types of texture, choral timbres, registers, and dynamics. Sviridov also has his favorite techniques. But the common quality that connects them and defines the national-Russian beginning of his music is songfulness in the broad sense of the word, as a principle that colors both the modal basis of his thematics (diatonic), and texture (unison, subvocality, choral pedal), and form ( verse, variation, strophicity), and intonation-figurative structure. Another characteristic property of Sviridov’s music is inextricably linked with this quality. Namely: vocality, understood not only as the ability to write for the voice: as vocal convenience and melodiousness of melodies, as an ideal synthesis of musical and speech intonations, which helps the performer achieve speech naturalness in the pronunciation of a musical text.

If we talk about the technique of choral writing, then, first of all, we should note the subtle expressiveness of the timbre palette and textural techniques. Equally mastering the techniques of subvocal and homophonic development, Sviridov, as a rule, is not limited to just one thing. In his choral works one can observe an organic connection between homophony and polyphony. The composer often uses a combination of a subvoice with a theme presented homophonically - a kind of two-dimensional texture (subvoice - background, theme - foreground). The supporting voice usually gives a general mood or paints a landscape, while the other voices convey the specific content of the text. Often Sviridov's harmony consists of a combination of horizontals (a principle coming from Russian folk polyphony). These horizontal lines sometimes form entire textured layers, and then their movement and connection give rise to complex harmonic consonances. A special case of textured multi-layering in Sviridov’s work is the technique of duplicated voice leading, leading to parallelism of fourths, fifths and whole chords. Sometimes such duplication of texture simultaneously in two “floors” (in the male and female choir or in high and low voices) is caused by the requirements of a certain timbre colorfulness or register brightness. In other cases, it is associated with “poster” images, with the style of Cossack and soldier songs (“A son met his father”). But most often parallelism is used as a means of sound volume. This desire for maximum saturation of the “musical space” finds vivid expression in the choirs “The Soul is Sad about Heaven” (to the words of S. Yesenin), “Prayer”, in which the performing ensemble is divided into two choirs, one of which duplicates the other.

In Sviridov's scores we will not find traditional choral textural techniques (fugato, canon, imitation) or standard compositional schemes; there are no general, neutral sounds. Each technique is predetermined by a figurative purpose, any stylistic turn is expressively specific. In each play, the composition is completely individual, free, and this freedom is determined and internally regulated by the subordination of musical development with the construction and meaningful dynamics of the poetic fundamental principle.

The dramatic peculiarity of some choirs is noteworthy. Two contrasting images, presented at first in the form of independent, complete constructions, in the final section seem to be brought to a single denominator, merging into one figurative plane (“In the blue evening”, “The son met his father”, “How the song was born”, “Herd” ) – the principle of dramaturgy, coming from instrumental forms (symphony, sonata, concert). In general, the implementation in the choir of techniques borrowed from instrumental, in particular orchestral, genres is typical for the composer. Their use in choral works significantly expands the range of expressive and formative possibilities of the choral genre.

The noted features of Sviridov’s choral music, which determine its artistic originality, led to the widespread recognition of the composer’s choirs and the rapid growth of their popularity. Most of them are heard in the concert programs of leading domestic professional and amateur choirs, recorded on records released not only in our country, but also abroad.

Five choirs to the words of Russian poets.

These compositions are Sviridov’s first works in the genre of unaccompanied choir. Each of the choirs is a completely complete, independent work, with its own figurative and emotional characteristics and genre characteristics. Therefore, they can be performed either all in a row or separately. At the same time, they are united in a cycle by the composer’s appeal not only to poets of the same nationality, but, above all, to significant, enduring, eternal problems: about youth and fading, about life and death, about love for one’s native land. This is a chain of reflections by the artist about the complex variability and diversity of the surrounding world, expressed in the contrasts of his subjective perception in different periods of life (either romantic and naively enthusiastic, or everyday dull, indifferent), and in the tragic inevitability of conflict clashes, and in the majestic harmony of eternal beginnings - nature and the creativity it gives birth to.

“About Lost Youth” to the text by N.V. Gogol;

“In the Blue Evening” to poems by S. Yesenin;

“A son met his father” based on poems by A. Prokofiev;

“How the song was born” based on verses by S. Orlov;

“Herd” based on poems by S. Yesenin.

Sviridov interprets isolated one-part vocal plays in genre terms in the same way as parts of his cycles. Each of them is a song, a story, or a picture, or a scene. But despite the significant role of the epic, landscape and genre principles in Sviridov’s choirs, a powerful “underground” flow of lyricism is felt everywhere. The destinies of the hero and the people merge, and the objective narrative is invariably imbued with the subjectivity of thoughts about life, about nature, about man. It must be from here, from such polysemy, the volume of the content of the choirs, that when perceived, it gives rise to a feeling of depth, which is hidden behind simplicity.

It comes already from the first chorus - “About Lost Youth”. The words of Gogol taken by Sviridov (a heavily abbreviated and at the same time slightly modified prose excerpt from the sixth chapter of “Dead Souls”) is one of the remarkable lyrical digressions in the poem, a monologue of a wise man who, along with childhood, lost the spontaneity and freshness of feelings, but did not forget about these spiritual properties, clearly aware of his loss. And the music expresses the same deep thought that Gogol expressed elsewhere in “Dead Souls”: “Take with you on the journey, emerging from the soft years of youth into stern, embittering courage, take with you all human movements, do not leave them on the road, you won’t get up later.”

The first half of the play is memories of the past, taking us “to the years of irrevocably past childhood,” memories that warm. The melody with intonations, sometimes “close” to everyday romance, is imbued with quiet and bright sadness. So you think about spring on the clear, cold days of autumn... The falling quart intonations and endings of phrases sound elegiac, like sweet sighs: “before”, “youth”, “childhood”. The echo of a soprano (from the choir) with a “romantic sixth” emphasizes the warmth of the emotional atmosphere.

The music sounds differently in the second section. It begins with the words: “Now I look indifferently, indifferently at the road...”. Pianissimo, frozen chords of the choir... An empty fifth on the word “indifferent”... An image that emanates coldness and fatigue. The movement, the thrill of life is behind us. After the simple and smooth harmonies of the first section, the harmonic shifts in the words seem sharp, in which the contrast of two states of life is expressed with the greatest force (“And what in previous years would have awakened a living movement in the face, laughter and incessant speeches, now slides by, lips are silent...").

These contrasting sections are united by the shortest “refrain”. The same laconic phrase sounds. First without words (echoing), and then with the words: “Oh, my youth, oh, my freshness!” And this turns out to be sufficient to give the whole a strong unity, because here, in one phrase, in an extremely concise form, the main idea of ​​the entire choir is expressed: do not forget about youth, about this wonderful time of life!..

Sharing his thoughts, Gogol speaks to the reader as to himself. And Sviridov also strives in everything for the greatest spontaneity, sincerity, and artlessness of expression. The tenor soloist does not “sing” the notes, does not try to show off overcoming vocal difficulties, in short, does not give concerts. The hero simply talks, reliving the past. The impression of conversation arises, in particular, from the fact that the text here is not poetry, but prose. And although it is “laid” into a metric grid (variable meter: 6/8 – 9/8) and conveyed in rounded melodic phrases, its prosaic structure still makes itself felt: asymmetrical and non-repeating phrases are formed, the rhythm and structure of which are free from “ squareness,” so that throughout there is a sense of casual, improvisational utterance.

The same theme of lost youth sounds in the second chorus - “In the Blue Evening” (words by S. Yesenin). It is also connected with the previous play intonationally - it begins with the same chant that ends the first chorus (“Oh, my freshness!”). But his images are different. In the first chorus, “youth” means childhood, clear and simple-minded, in the second we are talking about youth, about the time of love, the flourishing of vitality.

The beginning of the choir is thick chords with deep bass. The imagination paints a picture of a “velvet” moonlit evening, the time when the hero was young and beautiful. Everything is intoxicatingly beautiful and tinged with dreaminess.

The words in the music are expressed expressively: “beautiful and young”; in the intonations one can hear some kind of pride and pathos. Thus, music expresses not only the dreaminess of youth, but also its strength, which is especially noticeable at the moment of the rise of all the voices (“Once upon a time I was…”).

And then, as in the first chorus, there is a contrast: from the visions of youth, thought returns to the present. But now in music one hears not only regret, but also the cry of the soul, a great life drama, an irreparable catastrophe, is conveyed.

Using simple and original means, a feeling of collapse, “brokenness” was created. The culminating, key words in meaning are pronounced twice: “Everything has flown by.” Once the phrase begins from the melodic peak of the entire piece (A) with a sharp cry (ff after mp) on a weak beat - as if a cry has burst out that cannot be restrained. The melody moves smoothly down from the D major triad and suddenly “stumbles” in a fatal way: an alien sound appears in the upper voice - F-bekar (E-sharp), in harmony - chords of distant keys (B-flat major, E minor). Then the downward movement is resumed not from the D major, but from the D minor triad, from the F-bekar in the melody - from the sound on which the “breakdown” occurred.

After the compressed climax comes the denouement. “The heart has grown cold and the eyes have faded,” the basses and altos say sadly and tiredly in their low registers. And then the initial intonations sound again as the beginning of that song that could have unfolded and blossomed, foreshadowed happiness, but broke. Now they are pronounced slowly and freeze on echoing, vibrating chords. The visions of youth are a thing of the past, they live only as a painfully sweet memory.

Thus, in a unique and laconic form, the same idea is expressed in this chorus as in the epilogue of the cycle “My Father is a Peasant” - “There is one good song by the nightingale”: youth is beautiful, and woe to those who waste it...

The choir “A son met his father” (words from A. Prokofiev’s poem “Oh, the regiments were coming”) is unique in concept and structure. This is a story about one of the episodes of the civil war, where there are neither the names of the heroes nor their characteristics, so one can only guess that the son who died in the battle was a Red partisan. But a lot of space is occupied by images of nature. Everything - as it happens in a folk song, for which it is not the events themselves that are important, but their meaning, which is revealed, in particular, through the emotional response of nature, acting as a living, animate being.

Sviridov’s choir is built in the unusual form of a “musical story”, consisting of five “links”, each of which is a song independent in material (or rather, a song verse with a folk tune). As a result, musical dramaturgy becomes very clear: each of the images is both laconic and generalized, its edges are sharply outlined. A small play contains monumental content.

The chorus serves as both an exposition and a plot: “And to this day we remember the Don and the Donets; near Zveni - mountains, in the valley, a son met his father. Only male voices sing, mostly in unison. The movement is wide, “epic”. The diatonic major melody is sweeping and angular, without halftones, with decisive, bold throws - something powerful, solid, blocky. An epic image, reminiscent of the folk melodies of the Don Cossacks, and some of the best songs of A. Davidenko (for example, “From the Midday Sky”, “First Horse”).

This is the embodiment of masculinity. Something else, feminine, is shown in the next episode: “At the waste path...”. A smooth song of a lyrical nature is “started” by women’s voices, and it flows like a transparent spring stream. Folk diatonicism (melody, echoes, and harmony) now manifests itself from the other side - not with severity and power, as in the chorus, but with the chaste purity of lyrical expression. The voice of nature sounds here - the voice of sympathy and reassurance.

The center and pinnacle of the story is the scene of the fight between father and son (third and fourth episodes). At first, the peaceful song seems to continue, but its flow “accelerates,” and now decisive phrases are heard: “The parent twirled the saber, the son stood up in the stirrups.” Miraculously, the song turns into a painting. Phrases with oratorical exclamations (in the spirit of revolutionary chants) are constructed in such a way that the movements of both fighters are “seen” behind them. In the first there is a swing (taking off to the fifth: “...the parent with a saber”), in the second there is a rise and stop (“a jerk” to the fifth and its surroundings: “stood up in the stirrups”). There is also further figurativeness, where it is said about the death of his son (“Rolled through the valley...” - downward movement).

The climax is dominated by a courageous, heroic-epic beginning. When all the voices sing fortissimo in unison: “The peacock’s tail spread,” we recognize the rhythm and character of the epic phrases of the chorus.

It would seem that the chain of events is closed, the story is over. But just as the folk song would not end there, Sviridov’s choir does not end. Another, perhaps the most remarkable episode follows - a “requiem” for the murdered man, his “funeral service”.

Calm sets in. The tone changes. The leading role is taken by altos (in the bends of their winding first phrase one can discern the transformed contours of the chorus) and sopranos.

Who is singing this? Do women perform the funeral service for their son? Or does the very land for which he died accept him into its bosom? Imagination can suggest both images to the listener. But the meaning is the same: the voice of compassion sounds again, and thanks to its extraordinary purity, the hero’s feat is even more elevated.

The entire last episode is a triumph of lyricism. From the very beginning, light, peace, and thoughtfulness reign in the music (the stops on each syllable in the word “clear” are good, by the way). Then the musical flow spreads wider and wider, women's voices carry them further and higher (a smooth transition from D major to B major). And yet, even here the epic, “epic” beginning reminds of itself. The strict final phrase of the bass (a sharp turn back to D major) makes you remember the chorus, returning the thought to the heroic image, the image of courage and strength.

The most difficult thing to talk about is the fourth choir - “How the song was born” (words by S. Orlov). It is difficult because “nothing happens” in it and its music, at first glance, is extremely simple and monotonous, but it affects with some kind of magical power, giving rise to both deep experiences and endless thoughts. For nine stanzas, one key is maintained: natural D minor with deviations in F major and B flat major. The same chants and phrases vary. Approximately the same rhythmic pattern is maintained: wavy, swaying, “lulling”... This constancy and self-restraint reveals what delights us in Russian folk song: the integrity of the mood, the leisurely development of feelings and the restraint of their expression (it is remarkable that throughout the choir only once does the sonority mf occur, the rest goes to piano and pianissimo). And inside there is a wealth of shades and details.

The beginning of the chorus is a kind of exposition, introducing not so much the characters and the setting of the action, but rather the mood that will dominate the play. Without any “pre-notification” or lead-ins, the music begins with the main song melody (sopranos, then altos). Starting from lyrical urban melodies (such as “Oh you, share, my share”), Sviridov creates a completely new melodic image - captivatingly natural, straightforward, heartfelt and, moreover, strict, devoid of any sensitivity. Deeply related to Russian folk song, it develops according to its original laws (and not an urban song, to which it gravitates due to its intonation nature, but a peasant song!). Free variation of the main tune (combined with other chants), subvocal polyphony, modal variability - everything fills the song with rich inner life and variety.

The song beginning in this music is inextricably linked with the speech beginning. The melody is rounded and melodious, it sings a minor fifth, as in many other lyrical tunes of Sviridov, as in Russian folk songs. The melody rotates around the fifth in a major key and therefore seems light, floating in the air, ringing. On the other hand, every word and every syllable is clearly presented. In some places the chant gives way to talking on two or three notes. Despite the fact that the main thing here is the mood, the music also reflects the visual images of the poems: the high sound of the soprano takes off and stretches when it speaks of “curly smoke”; like a tongue of fire, a melodic phrase bursts upward on the words “flames dancing at the temple.”

The beginning of the choir creates an atmosphere of concentration, calm reflection and trust. And the song originates within this environment. It arises in the very thick of the musical fabric, in the register that has already been “mastered” by female voices. It was not brought here from the outside, but pours out from the very heart... “High, high and subtly the tenor brought out the song...” the female voices sing, and the tenor soloist at this time leads his wonderful free-voice without words, as if leaving the women to say, oh than his song: “It’s all about how a girl lived... across the river behind Sheksna alone...”.

Then the bass soloist takes over the song.

Once again, one can see how skillfully and sensitively Sviridov uses choral timbres for dramaturgically imaginative purposes (remember “The Son Met His Father”). Not only did men’s voices enter only when the poems first started talking about them. Each of the voices has its own line, its own character.

And then the timbres also participate in the action. The second exposition of the choir - “Bearded, in full force...” sounds in contrast to the first. Purely male theme (bass and tenor). Here the melodic line and choral texture are simpler, a little rougher (first unison, then parallel thirds, and only the word “sang” is highlighted with a full chord). The squatness and heaviness of the sound of deep bass are well “played out” when they talk about “hard earthly roads”, that “life was given for a reason.” On the contrary, the lyrics, the heartfelt and soft that lies behind masculinity, are again expressed by female voices. Surprisingly touching, like an unexpected, but humanly understandable frankness, their openly emotionally romantic intonation sounds in the words “it went through their minds” and “it was just difficult more than once.”

In the comparison and combination of male severity with female softness and warmth, not only the direct meaning is revealed, but also the subtext of the song that two men sing by the fire: “And it’s not that happiness passed them by. And it’s not that they are unloved, they are alone in the forest country.” There is no reason to complain about fate, but... they became sad, remembering the “girl”. And the thought of something bright, good, left behind, a memory of youth, without at all causing dramatic emotions (unlike the first two choirs), warms the soul and brings high poetry to the song. This is how the inner beauty of the spiritual world of the “bearded men” is revealed, this is how their harsh maturity in life is connected by a continuity with the pure dreams of youth. This is the true modernity of these heroes, who oppose Yesenin’s with their integrity and unspent strength.

But nowhere in the choir is the feeling exposed, does it not spill out. And the conclusion - “So the song was born” - is also pronounced with complete simplicity and artlessness. And then the singers follow with their thoughts and eyes the born song, which “flies to the blue stars,” and it flies up into the air, melting in the air like the smoke of a fire...

Such is this choir, where strict truth is fused with reverent poetry, where the sublime, deep and wise are expressed with rare generalizing power and with utmost simplicity.

Another pinnacle of artistic generalization is the “Tabun” choir. In Yesenin’s poem, the idea of ​​love for the Motherland is conveyed in a fresh and unusual way: as if the poet, looking at the whole earth, suddenly saw it as a fairy-tale land, where, with the power of his imagination, everything ordinary blossomed with magical colors and appeared fantastically beautiful, wonderful. The meadow turned into a blue bay, where “the pitch of the swaying manes” of the herds fell, and the horses themselves “blowed off the golden plaque from the days with their nostrils.” How beautiful the Motherland turns out to be! There is so much unusual beauty in its meadows and hills, in the simple tune of a shepherd!.. This is how one can express the poet’s thought. And this is how the composer understood it.

This is why the beginning of the chorus sounds like a hymn. Sviridov “carves” here a theme of a powerful, one might say heroic character, spread out freely (like wide meadows) and at the same time full of enormous strength and pathos. This is a majestic call, a “trumpet voice”, rushing over the fields and hillocks. It is presented at first by the bass alone, and then it turns into hymnic chords of all male voices.

Next to it is another image: “A shepherd plays a song on a horn.” The soprano curls in a pattern of a modest, ingenuous tune with an echo. This is the other side of the appearance of our native land, the embodiment of its soulfulness and discreet beauty, this is the image of a person against the backdrop of a landscape. And it is in unity with the majestic picture of nature: for some time the basses continue to sound the octave remaining from the opening hymn as the foundation of the shepherd’s song.

Gradually this new picture (in relation to which the previous one was an epic screensaver) is unfolding more and more widely. Everything in it breathes calm, peace, silence. Again in front of him, as in “Smoke of the Fatherland” and the Epilogue from “The Country of the Fathers” or in the romance “Exile”, is a symbol of the complete merging of man with the earth, his immersion in nature and dissolution in it. But there is also something new here: these images have been transferred to a different national soil, and now the composer has glorified his Motherland, the Russian land.

The figurative details in this painting are wonderful. Here the poet talks about how, “staring with their foreheads, listens to the herd,” and massive harmonies with parallel movement of the outer voices and a stationary pedal in the middle voices clumsily mark time. In one stroke, the music also describes the “playful echo” (the exclamation of the soprano).

And then an imperceptibly emerging distant harmonic deviation (E-flat major - G-flat major) seems to expand the horizon, revealing new, unknown distances...

After this, the final phrases stand out especially clearly:

Loving your day and night darkness

For you, O Motherland, I composed that song.

From the painting Sviridov again goes to thought. Love for the Motherland embraces both its strength and tenderness, and reflects what is dear to it for everyone together and for each individual. And in this final section of the choir, the greatness of the Motherland is again loudly proclaimed, the anthem to it is heard again (one of the phrases of the introduction is repeated), and immediately in a quiet, modest, trusting phrase (“and the darkness of the night”) the patriotic feeling is expressed as personal, intimate.

The last reflection of the bygone day (the juxtaposition of E-flat minor and C major) illuminates the ending of this choir. Within the framework of the miniature, the composer again created images of great general meaning and expressed a great thought.

These are the five choirs of Sviridov. Let them not form a cycle. But, knowing the author’s tendency to create compositions that are uniform in concept, it is worth trying to find a unifying idea in the choral suite. At first acquaintance, the only thing that catches your eye is the connection between the first two choirs, since both of them are dedicated to memories of youth. Then the composer seems to move away from this topic. But, if you take a single look at all five plays, you will notice that they all develop one idea.

Once upon a time, in “Autumn” and “John Anderson” from a cycle based on poems by Burns, Sviridov conveyed thoughts about the change of ages and generations, about the transition from spring and summer to autumn and winter, from the morning and half a day of life to its evening. Isn’t this the kind of thinking embodied in choirs? The first chorus speaks of childhood, the second - of youth, the third - of youth entering a mortal battle for its future, the fourth - of life's maturity, the fifth - of sunset, allegorically - of the evening of life. And here the main idea of ​​the suite is expressed: the result of life, “the conclusion of earthly wisdom” - the merging of man with his native land, harmony with nature, love for the Motherland. Poetic and wise idea!

Sviridov's choirs are a significant contribution to Soviet choral literature, a new word in it. This is how listeners treat them, accepting their performance with constant delight, and this is how the greatest masters of choral art evaluate them.

Choral creativity G.V. Sviridova

(Unaccompanied and accompanied choirs)

Three poems by A. Pushkin: “Where is our rose, my friends?”,

“There is a city in Russia called Luga...”, “If life deceives you.”

2. “Autumn” poem by F. Tyutchev.

3. “Grief” poem by A. Tolstoy.

4. “Hymns of Russia” poem by F. Sologub.

5. “Zapevka” poem by I. Severyanin.

6. Two choirs to poems by S. Yesenin: “Blizzard”, “You are my fallen maple”.

7. Poem “Bastard man”. Poems by P. Oreshkin.

8. "Swan's groove". Poems by N. Brown.

9. “Pushkin’s Wreath” to poems by A. Pushkin (concert for choir):

"Winter morning";

“Poletchushko - little heart”;

"Mary";

"Echo";

"Greek Feast"

"Camphor and musk";

“They beat Zorya...”;

"Natasha";

"Rise up, fearful one..."

“The white-sided chirping ...".

10. “Ladoga” to poems by A. Prokofiev (choral poem):

"Song about love"

"Balalaika",

"Lake water"

"Night Singings"

"Beard".

11. “Night Clouds” to poems by A. Blok (cantata):

“By the green shore...”

"The hour hand is approaching midnight..."

"Love",

"Balaganchik."

12. Four choirs to poems by A. Blok (from the cycle “Songs of Timelessness”):

"Autumn",

"Clear Fields"

"Spring and the Sorcerer"

"Icon".

13. “Kursk songs”, folk words (cantata):

"Green oak..."

“Sing, sing, little lark...”

"The bells are ringing in the city..."

“Oh, woe, woe to my little swan,”

“Vanka bought himself a braid...”

“My dark nightingale...”

“Beyond the river, beyond the fast one...”

14. “Five choirs to the words of Russian poets”:

“About Lost Youth” (words by N.V. Gogol),

“In the blue evening” (poems by S. Yesenin),

“A son met his father” (poems by A. Prokofiev),

“How the song was born” (poems by S. Orlov),

“Herd” (poems by S. Yesenin).

15. Two choirs to poems by S. Yesenin:

“You sing me that song that before...” (female choir for 4 voices),

“The soul is sad about heaven...” (male choir for 12 voices).

16. Three choruses from the music to the tragedy by A.K. Tolstoy “Tsar Fyodor Ioanovich”:

"Prayer",

"Holy Love"

"Poem of repentance."

17. Concert in memory of A. Yurlov:

"Cry",

"Parting"

"Chorale".

18. Three miniatures:

“Round Dance” (poems by A. Blok),

“Vesnyanka” (words from folk poetry),

“Kolyada” (folk words).

19. Four songs to the words of A. Prokofiev:

“On the left is a field, on the right is a field...”,

"Wartime Song"

"Soldier's Night"

"Our Motherland is Russia."

8.Conclusion

Sviridov’s creativity is an outstanding phenomenon of the spiritual culture of our people. His music, simple and wise, like a folk song, inviting and sublime, occupies a special place in Russian art.

Sviridov knows how to see and show us the eternal in the new and the new in the eternal. His work is a living embodiment of the immortality of the traditions of Russian culture and the inexhaustible ability of this mighty tree to fill with fresh sap, bear fruit, and give new shoots and branches.

His innovative contribution to oratorio-cantata choral and romance music is on par with what Prokofiev did for opera and ballet, piano music, and Shostakovich for symphony and chamber-instrumental genres.

And there is hardly any need for better confirmation of Sviridov’s creative, modern approach to the traditions of national art than the generally accepted fact that he (like other major Soviet composers) has already created his own tradition in Russian music. It marks a new step on the path of progress of national culture and plays an important role in the spiritual life of society, in its movement forward. This Sviridov tradition is to live and develop for many, many years, enriching the precious centuries-old experience of Russian culture with new achievements.

The music of Georgy Sviridov lives in the hearts of millions of people. It entered into us with Pushkin's romances of 1935 - surprisingly fresh, original, in which his artistic language was found amazingly early: at the same time simple and complex, clear and wise, brightly Russian and absorbed the experience of world music, from Bach and Schubert to Glinka and Prokofiev . This style permeates the entire grandiose and diverse work of Sviridov: large cantata-oratorio canvases and intimate vocal lyrics, picturesque orchestral opuses and the most refined chamber-instrumental music.

Sviridov worked literally until the last days of his life. When asked how he felt, the 82-year-old composer honestly answered: “Bad,” but continued immediately: “It doesn’t matter - we have to work, there are so many plans, preparations.”

Bibliography:

Alfeevskaya G. History of Russian music of the Soviet period. – M., 1993.

Asafiev B. Russian music of the 19th – early 20th centuries. – L. 1968.

Vasiliev V. Essays on conductor and choral education. – L., 1990.

Zhivov V. Performing analysis of a choral work. – M., 1987.

Ilyin V. Essays on the history of Russian choral culture of the second half of the 16th and early 20th centuries. – part 1. – M., 1985.

Book about Sviridov/Compiled by A. Zolotov. – M., 1983.

Krasnoshchekov V. Questions of choral studies. – M., 1969.

Levando P. Choral studies. – L., 1984.

Music for children./Issues of musical and aesthetic education. Vol. 5. – L. “Music”. 1985.

Bird K. New choral music. “Soviet Music” 1961, No. 12.

Bird K. About music and musicians: articles from different years / Compiled by B. Tevlin, L. Ermakova. – M., 1995.

Samarin V. Choreology: textbook. – M., 1998.

Sokhor A. Georgy Sviridov. All-Union publication "Soviet Composer". – M., 1972.

Ukolova L.I. Conducting/Textbook for students of secondary professional institutions. Education. – M., Humanitarian Publishing Center Vlados. – 2003.

SVIRIDOV GEORGY VASILIEVICH

(1915-1998)

The future composer was born in the small town of Fatezh in the Kursk province. His father was a postal worker and his mother was a teacher. When George was only four years old, the family was orphaned: his father died during the civil war. After this, the mother and her son moved to Kursk. There Yuri (that was Sviridov’s name in childhood) went to school, where his musical abilities manifested themselves. It was then that he mastered his first musical instrument, the ordinary balalaika. Sviridov took it from one of his comrades and soon learned to play by ear so much that he was accepted into an amateur orchestra of Russian folk instruments. The director of the orchestra, a former violinist Ioffe, organized concerts and musical evenings dedicated to classical composers. While playing in an orchestra, Sviridov honed his technique and never stopped dreaming of getting a musical education. In the summer of 1929, he decided to enter a music school. At the entrance exam, the boy had to play the piano, but since he did not have any repertoire at that time, he played a march of his own composition. The commission liked him and he was accepted into the school.

At the music school, Sviridov became a student of V. Ufimtseva, the wife of the famous Russian inventor G. Ufimtsev. Communication with this sensitive and talented teacher enriched Sviridov in many ways: he learned to play the piano professionally and fell in love with literature. During his studies, he was a frequent guest in the Ufimtsevs’ house, and it was Vera Vladimirov who became the person who advised Sviridov to devote his life to music.

After graduating from school, he continued his music lessons with another teacher, M. Krutyansky. On his advice, in 1932, Sviridov went to Leningrad and entered a music college to study piano, headed by Professor I. Braudo. At that time, Sviridov lived in a hostel and, in order to feed himself, played in the cinema and in restaurants in the evenings.

Under the guidance of Yudin, Sviridov wrote his first course work, variations for piano, in just two months. They are still famous among musicians and are used as teaching material. Sviridov stayed in Yudin's class for about three years. During this time, he wrote many different works, but the most famous was a cycle of six romances based on poems by Pushkin.

However, malnutrition and hard work undermined the young man’s health, he had to interrupt his studies and leave for some time to Kursk, to his homeland. Having gained strength and improved his health, in the summer of 1936 Sviridov entered the Leningrad Conservatory and became the winner of a personal scholarship named after A. Lunacharsky. His first teacher there was Professor P. Ryazanov, who was replaced six months later by D. Shostakovich.

Under the guidance of his new mentor, Sviridov completed work on a piano concerto, which premiered during the decade of Soviet music dedicated to the twentieth anniversary of the revolution, simultaneously with Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony.

Such a successful completion of the conservatory promised brilliant prospects for the young composer; he finally got the opportunity to professionally do his favorite thing. However, all these plans were disrupted by the war. In its very first days, Sviridov was enrolled as a cadet at a military school and sent to Ufa. However, already at the end of 1941 he was demobilized due to health reasons.

Until 1944, Sviridov lived in Novosibirsk, where the Leningrad Philharmonic was evacuated. Like other composers, he began to write war songs, of which the most famous was, perhaps, “Song of the Brave” based on poems by A. Surkov. In addition, he wrote music for performances of theaters evacuated to Siberia. It was then that Sviridov first had to work for musical theater, and he created the operetta “The Sea Spreads Wide,” which told about the life and struggle of Baltic sailors in besieged Leningrad.

In 1944, Sviridov returned to Leningrad, and in 1950 he settled in Moscow. Now he no longer had to prove his right to independent creativity. In addition, Sviridov is the creator of an interesting musical genre, which he called “musical illustration.” The composer seems to be telling a literary work through music. This is primarily a cycle dedicated to Pushkin’s story “The Snowstorm”. But the main genre that the composer never parted with is song and romance. Vocal music occupies the main place in creativity. He works with poems by a variety of poets, revealing their appearance in a new way.

Sviridov developed and continued the traditions of vocal and vocal-symphonic music, and created new genre varieties of it. At the same time, in the field of harmony and musical form, he showed something new, unique, and individual.

The public is widely familiar with Sviridov’s music for the films “Time, Forward!” (1965) and "Blizzard" (1974).

Sviridov’s stunning choral cycles brought him worldwide fame (“Decembrists” to the words of A. Pushkin and the Decembrist poets, “Poem in Memory of Sergei Yesenin”, “Pathetic Oratorio” after V. Mayakovsky, “Five Songs about Russia” to the words of A. Blok, etc.). However, Sviridov also worked in popular genres, for example, in operetta (“Lights”, “The Sea Spreads Wide”), in cinema (“Resurrection”, “The Golden Calf”, etc.), in drama theater (music for the plays of A. Raikin, “Don Cesarde Bazan”, etc.).

Sviridov was generously awarded with titles and awards under almost all authorities: he was awarded three times with State Prizes of the USSR, the Lenin Prize in 1960, in 1970 he was awarded the title of People's Artist of the USSR, in 1975 - Hero of Socialist Labor.

The last year of the composer’s life was simply monstrous for his family. On December 11, Georgy Vasilyevich’s younger brother died, on the same day the brilliant musician himself fell ill, and on December 31, his youngest son, a Japanese player, died in Japan. (Sviridov lost his first son even earlier). They buried Sviridov Jr., and soon the elder...

The civil memorial service and funeral of G. Sviridov took place on January 9, 1998 in Moscow. After the funeral service in the Church of Christ the Savior, the funeral of G. Sviridov took place. The great composer's final resting place was found at the Novodevichy Cemetery.

So, Sviridov’s works are widely known in Russia and abroad. He wrote both serious and light music with equal ease, which is why people fell in love with it.

From the very beginning of his career, Georgy Vasilyevich Sviridov paid attention to vocal and choral music. Romances to the poems of Pushkin by Lermontov Blok, song cycles to the words of Beranger, Burns, Isaakyan Prokofiev were included in the golden fund of Soviet vocal literature. Sviridov is original as a vocal and choral composer. Sviridov's vocal and choral creativity is unique in its breadth of coverage of various poetic styles. The composer turned to the poetry of Shakespeare and Burns, Pushkin and Lermontov, Nekrasov and Isaakyan, Mayakovsky and Pasternak, Prokofiev, Orlov, Tvardovsky and others. But Sviridov’s favorites were always two truly Russian poets, in whom he found eternal themes that are in tune with today - A. Blok and S. Yesenin.

Sviridov had a rich melodic gift. The melody is chanting, Russian, soulful - the “holy of holies” of Sviridov’s creativity. Definitions of Sviridov’s style are characteristic: “Sviridov’s work is a song in the literal (interest in vocal genres, attention to the word) and figurative (tireless glorification of the Motherland) sense of the word,” and “songness” in the broad sense of the word, as a principle that determines the specifics of thematicism. ... becomes one of the main qualities that reveals the national in his work."

Sviridov’s mastery of choral writing was especially evident in his “Five unaccompanied choirs to the words of Russian poets,” which were created in 1959 between two choral canvases: “Poem in Memory of S. Yesenin” and “Pathetic Oratorio.” This work reveals important stylistic features of the composer. They are in many ways indicative of the development of one of the directions of modern choral writing. The best study of the work of E. Sviridov is rightfully considered the monograph by A. Sokhor, the materials of which are used by us when analyzing choral works.

“Five Unaccompanied Choirs” (1959) was written to poems by various poets, united by the main theme of Sviridov’s work - the theme of the Motherland, a collective image of the Russian land, its nature and people, beautiful in their sincerity and spiritual purity. It is no coincidence that Sviridov’s music is perceived as the “quintessence” of everything Russian: nature, landscape, the human soul, songfulness, poetry, religion. Deep penetration into the soul of the people, comprehension of the nature of Russian melodic music - in peasant and city songs, in Znamenny chants - evokes analogies with the music of Rachmaninov. The composer knows how to combine in his work socially significant themes and lyrics, images of his native nature and heroic pages of the history of the revolution and civil war. But the main - patriotic - theme, the theme of love for the Motherland, receives a lyrical and philosophical embodiment in him. The chorus “On Lost Youth” (based on a prose excerpt from the second volume of “Dead Souls” by N.V. Gogol) - memories of past childhood and youth, serves as an introduction to the collection. The second and fifth choirs of the collection are written to poems by S. Yesenin, the composer’s favorite poet. The third and fourth, telling about the meeting of a son with his father, and about “the birth of a poetic song, are written on poems by poets of the Soviet period - A. Prokofiev and S. Orlov.

In the chorus “About Lost Youth” the narration is told from the perspective of the soloist (author). Emphasizing the importance of semantic details, the solo part is contrasted with the choir singing without words. The melody of the choir is determined by the intonation and rhythm of the text. The music contains elegiac sadness, characteristic of everyday romances (part 1), and the bitterness of loss (section 2). Hence the homophonic texture (solo and accompanying parts). The two-part stanzaic form is highlighted both by the tonal plan and by the variability of functions in cadences. The melodic phrases of the cadences of this choir go into the main material of the next second choir “In the Blue Evening”, being its starting point and connecting both choirs with thematic unity, as indicated by A. N. Sokhor. The intonation-thematic connection of these choirs appears in the similarity of themes and plots of their compositional basis. However, this similarity is used by the composer as a prerequisite for the contrast of their opposition.

In the second chorus, “In the Blue Evening,” the narrative is told on behalf of the author, but is presented by the choir. The picturesqueness of the musical picture is brought to the fore, which, according to the description of A. N. Sokhor: “everything is intoxicatingly beautiful and colored with dreaminess.” “What inner beauty, severity and restraint in the expression of feelings this truthful music is filled with! Only at times the major elegance of the general coloring is drowned out piercing notes of deep sorrow and disappointment. An indelible impression is left by the transition from the short “requiem” (male quartet with violas) to the “endless” major cadence, as if reviving the old dreams of youth in a tired heart. In this choir, Sviridov, it seems, was not inferior to Yesenin: poet sounds equaled the poet of words,” writes O. Kolovsky.

“A son met his father” is a heroic song about a dramatic episode of the civil war, full of emotional intensity. It is close to the theme from the “Poem in Memory of Yesenin” (“The Red Army’s bayonets and belts are shining, here father and son can meet”). A fragment of S. Yesenin’s ditty (from “Song of the Great March”) unfolds in the choir (to the text by A. Prokofiev) into a stage. The lyrical concept of the choir reproduces the spirit of an epic tale and legend. The action does not reveal dramatic events; it is implied in the subtext. The chorus is written in free form, consisting of five episodes. The energetic chorus of the male choir with melodic ups and downs in a dotted rhythm is reminiscent of the brave songs of the Don Cossacks. In varied variability, not only the intonation-rhythmic and textural basis of the music changes, it is transformed into the genre of the chorus. The variation of the chorus serves as a means of dramatic expressiveness. The first part is divided into two halves thanks to the choral instrumentation, in which the male and female choir groups alternate. The second episode, performed by a women's choir (“At the waste path”), sounds softly like a lyrical girl's song. Next, the choral groups unite, presenting a one-part strophic form. The dramatic contrast and climax are the 3rd and 4th episodes (“The wind walked with an unsteady gait” and “The peacock spread her tail ...”). The mixed choir sounds compact, powerful, the tessitura rises, the tempo accelerates, deviations into parallel minor and everything breaks off. After a long pause, the last section begins with a majestic, bright melody - a hymn to the future, affirming the victory of life over death. In this choir, everything is built on contrasting comparisons: first the male choir sings, then the female choir. In the first tutti the harmonic texture is three-part (there is also a unison episode). In the last episode there is a “colorful and timbral modulation from the bright tones of a genre picture to the half-tone tints of a peaceful feeling.” The choral texture enhances the harmonic richness with complexes (partially duplicating the melody of the choir singing without words).

“How the song was born” - soulful lyrics. Behind the apparent external melodic and rhythmic monotony (verse-variation form) there is a wealth of feelings, the beauty of the Russian soul, poetry. “Here, a feature of Sviridov’s style was especially masterfully demonstrated - subvocality in all its manifestations: everything starts with a modest, one-voice chorus, then one of the voices “gets stuck” in the form of a pedal, the other begins to echo. The main three-voice structure of the work arises, which later becomes more complex vertically and horizontally; from the second grows a massive chord, from the pedal - graceful contrapuntal lines. All this as a whole forms an unusually melodic, natural-sounding choral texture, just like in a folk song. This choir can be placed alongside such examples of subvocal Russian style as the choir Borodin's villagers, Mussorgsky's opera choirs, some choirs from Shostakovich's “Ten Poems for Chorus.” Here Sviridov not only proceeds from the general style of folk song, but also implements in his work individual intonation and structural patterns of folk song art, enriching them with the means of professional composition technology."

“Tabun” is a song about Russia. In the wide heroic chorus of male voices there is a panorama of native spaces. Love for Russia, admiration for its nature, an unusually poetic picture of a sunset, a herd of horses at night, the sounds of a shepherd's horn - fill the sound of the choir with a special reverence. Fine moments of sound recording give way to philosophical reflections. The choral texture is rich in choral presentation techniques (from unison to tutti, choral bass-octavist pedal, closed-mouth singing), colorful (modulations, textural variability) and emotional. The semantic conclusion is a proud hymn-like melody with the words: “Loving your day and night darkness. For you, O Motherland, I composed that song!” The score of this choir is rich in contrasts: frequent changes of rhythms, textures, vocal and choral colors: after two episodes with a transparent texture, for example, the heavy seven-part voice sounds very impressive against the background of the choral pedal - like a “horizon”, which in turn is replaced by ringing and melodious chords final section.

In the compositional aspect, the poetic unity of “Five Choirs” is similar to the structure of one of the composer’s “Yesenin” cycles, “My Father is a Peasant.” Thanks to the frame “from the author”, all choirs acquire a lyrical tone.

These a cappella choirs reflected all the main stylistic features of Sviridov; songfulness (in the choir melody and voice leading), modal diatonicity and subvocality with its textural and harmonic variability of functions; plagalism (the predominance of tertian relationships with major-minor vibrations typical of Russian music) , features of formation (the role of verse-variation and strophic forms), diversity of choral compositions, timbral richness. Choral orchestration - from melody to harmony, the use of divisi in all parts, especially in male voices, which Sviridov appreciates for their strength, density, fundamentality (three bass parts and one tenor). Sviridov uses all types of choral writing, paying special attention to contrasting comparisons of registers, textures and performing compositions (“Herd”, “A son met his father”). The colorfulness of Sviridov’s choral paintings is achieved by a variety of timbre-register combinations, enormous importance of texture and harmonic

Features of choral writing:

1. The dominant position is occupied by the sphere of vocal genres, the composer’s world is the human voice;

2. Attraction to folk music, its intonations, modes, its inner spirit and content;

3. The basis of choirs is a melodic layer based on accompaniment (instrument or other voices);

4. Characteristic diatonic melodies, brightness;

5. Tonal harmony, motionless for a long time, an elusive touch - the overlay of a chord;

6. Tonal restraint. Most choirs have one, unchangeable key (even in adjacent parts of cycles);

7. Rhythm – characterized by simplicity, but it can also be exquisitely whimsical (as in the chorus “By the Green Shore” from the cantata “Night Clouds”);

8. Types of choral texture:

1) Expressiveness of Sviridov’s accompaniments. In choral works there is always a stratification of the musical fabric into two layers - the main and auxiliary (accompaniment). So, sustained sounds are placed under the melody, in a “different” timbre (or another group of a mixed choir, solo, or different methods of sound production - closed mouth, vowel sound, etc.).

2) chord, choral type (“In the blue evening”, “You sing me that song”). Polyphonic texture cannot be found in the classical form, since the mixing and interweaving of lines, in the composer’s opinion, interferes with the expression of poetic thought. And Sviridov appreciated the utmost clarity of words.

9. The most important principle is the connection between words and music. He never subordinates the word to music, does not illustrate the text, he reads the main idea, the main mood of the verse, and his music strengthens the word - it is a form of expression of the verse and thought (“About Lost Youth”);

10. Uses the poetry of Pushkin, Yesenin, Lermontov, Blok, Mayakovsky, Prokofiev.

Georgy Vasilyevich Sviridov (December 3, 1915 – January 6, 1998) was a Russian composer and pianist, winner of many different state awards. One of his most famous works is the story “Blizzard” by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin.

Childhood

Georgy Vasilyevich was born on December 3 in the city of Fatezh, which is currently located in the Kursk region. His father worked all his life at the post office and was an active supporter of the Bolsheviks, supporting their movement during the Civil War. Georgiy's mother worked as a school teacher and was a liberal-minded person, so she never understood her husband's passionate political aspirations.

When the boy was four years old, his father was killed in one of the clashes between the Bolsheviks and the opposition. From this time on, the mother and child are left completely alone, without a breadwinner and means of subsistence, so they decide to move to Kursk, to distant relatives on the maternal side. Sviridov goes to elementary school there.

From a very early age, the child’s talent and passion for literature is evident. Thanks to school clubs, Sviridov takes part in many productions and even tries to write poetry.

Unlike his classmates, already at the age of eight he knows many domestic and foreign authors and is even able to name the features of their work. However, literature was not the only hobby of young George.

Once he had a role to play in a school play, where the main character had to perform a short melody on the balalaika. Sviridov took the initiative to learn to play this Russian folk instrument, which instilled in the boy a love of music. It was thanks to him that Sviridov began to compose his own melodies and try to pick out well-known motives by ear.

Youth

In 1936, Sviridov entered the Leningrad Conservatory, where he studied the basics of musical art from Shostakovich and Ryazanov, two prominent teachers of that time. A year later, seeing the talent of young Sviridov and his love for music, Ryazanov gives him a recommendation at the Union of Composers, and the guy is gladly included in the ranks of the most gifted representatives of Russia.

By the beginning of World War II, Georgy went to the Leningrad Military School of Air Surveillance, Warning and Communications (VNOS), but due to unfitness and poor health, he was forced to move to Novosibirsk, where composers who had been evacuated like himself tried to cheer up the soldiers , composing songs and melodies of the war years.

One of the first compositions was “Song of the Brave,” for which Surkov composed the poems. Having adapted to the new place, Sviridov even began to write works for theaters evacuated to Novosibirsk, participating in many local productions.

The composer's work

Since Georgy Sviridov himself loved and idolized Pushkin throughout his life, considering him the best in his field, the composer’s first works were created specifically for the poems of this great poet. They became several symphonies and romances. The most famous work is considered to be “Blizzard”.

According to music critics, Sviridov's style changed throughout the entire period of his work. Thus, before entering the Leningrad Conservatory, he created mainly classical and romantic compositions, which were very similar to the works of German composers. However, with the appearance of the teacher Shostakovich in his life, Georgy began to write mainly Russian compositions, which from the very first notes showed the originality and attitude of the author in relation to his homeland.

It is difficult to count all the works written by Sviridov. This includes 7 small pieces for piano, and 7 romances dedicated to Lermontov’s poems, and the famous sonata for violin (by the way, the work could not be restored for a long time due to missing fragments at the climax), and a piano quintet, and many others. According to critics and bibliographers, Georgy Sviridov had a truly enormous influence on Russian classical music of that time. He, like no one else, knew how to emphasize the identity and culture of the Russian soul, the customs and traditions of the peoples of Russia.

Personal life

Georgy Sviridov was married only once. His wife was the charming Elsa Gustavovna, a woman who captivated him not only with her beauty, but also with her good taste in music. They met at one of the concerts where George's compositions were performed. After the end of the event, Elsa approached him to express her delight at his work and, seeing the young and talented Sviridov, fell in love at first sight. And a few months later they officially legalized their relationship and lived a long and happy life together.